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We are having major problems concerning floppy drives in one of our computer labs. The problem is that you can take a KNOWN good disk, or brand new disk for that matter, and place it into one of these systems, and you will get an error that says "Please insert disk" or "Disk not formatted". If you try to format the disk, Windows cannot complete the format, but if you take that same disk to a different computer, it works just fine. All of the systems are the same in this particular lab, but only 17 out of 24 are having problems, and these problems do not occur on a regular basis. We initially thought the drives were bad, but here's the really strange part: if you take the drive out and either run it outside the case or put that drive into a different case, it works just fine! Even if you replace the drive in these systems, it's only a matter of time before you have the same problem all over again. The cases have the recessed-style floppy drive bays, if that makes any difference. These systems are less than 1 year old, and the problems have been occuring for the last 6 months or so. One system was even sent back to the manufacturer and had the motherboard replaced; now, were still having the original problem. We've had that lab rewired since the problems began occuring, thinking that might be the problem. We're to the point now where we're running out of ideas. If anyone has any thoughts as to what our problem might be, my entire department would be grateful!!
A person can speak from experience, but experience speaks for itself...
Hi Jedi,
Since the FD will work outside the case, only two things. Both are a strech.
Try putting the FD in place with only one screw and have that screw just snug; not tight.
Sometimes, depending on the drive cage, tight screws will distort the drive just enough to cause it to fail.
Second. We had a situation of intermittent errors (mobo, not floppy) which defied trouble isolation.
As a last resort, we ran the mobo outside the case. Worked fine.
So we took a "bulk eraser", an electromagnet which plugs into 115V 60~, and we demanetized the case.
Worked fine after that.
HTH
M2
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I was about to suggest that last idea also. If you have any real strong magnet source in that part of the lab, field build up on cheap metal cases will cause read/write problems with the very sensitive heads in diskette drives.
Also, ground shorts to the case and loose power connectors can cause magnetic fields inside the case that cause problems with diskette drives.
While these can cause reading and formating errors, it should not be causing the first error, "Please Insert Disk" when one is actually in the drive. Most diskette drives use an optical sensor to detect drives. However some do use a mechanical switch and a few of them are HAL sensors. Makes me wonder what kind of high frequency magnetic fields you have in that Lab? You would also be having problem with display screen becoming distorted, if its not restricted to the inside of the boxes.
Just don't get that bulk eraser too close to the disk drives.....
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I know you have rewired, but have you properly checked the electricity mains supply for voltage levels etc.??
positive/negative and earth (repeat earth).
Try measuring pc cases/chassis for any readings.
Good luck - Keep us posted.
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"The cases have the recessed-style floppy drive bays, if that makes any difference". Do you mean by this that the drive mounts behind the bezel with just a slot for the disk? If so, the integral eject button may be pushing on the actual floppy drive button all the time, due to improper adjustment. I had a problem like that on a case once.
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I have a compaq laptop computer that is exhibiting this behavior regarding the floppy drive. It can 'read' floppy just fine....but try to save something and it will tell you the disc is not formatted...when you attempt to format, it comes up and says windows cannot format the disc. This is just a business laptop that is used in an auto some and at home the rest of the time.
It's a little over a year old...just enough for no warranty!
any ideas on what could cause this on the laptop and how to cure it??
Katy
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Katy,
Try cleaning the drive with a floppy cleaner disk from the computer store.
O Hill,
Good one.
I completely spaced out the integral button factor.
M2
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Thanks for all the recommendations, everyone! I noticed several people mentioned demagnatizing the case - how do you go about doing this? Is this something where you must take out the guts to do this? And how can we go about getting a reading from the case? We have now discovered that our lab is not the only lab experiencing problems. We have a sister campus located 60 miles away who purchased similar computers for different labs and work stations. They are having the same problems as we are!!!
Someone else suggested that the extra power cables might be causing the disturbance, so we tore all cases apart and bundled up any extra cords. No luck. Same result. Currently, we have a particular problem station in for testing. What we've done is take the floppy drive out of the pre-made slot bay on the case, and placed it in a cage so it will fit in a CDROM bay. I'll keep everyone posted to see if this works. We're going to try loosening the screws on the drives next.
Once again, thanks to everyone for the great ideas!!!
A person can speak from experience, but experience speaks for itself...
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Red lead of multimeter on case, black lead on a known good earth.
If there is any voltage present, it suggest the case is not properly earthed.
I am suspicious that the problem exists on 17 out of 24 pc's. Is there any pattern to the 17, are they one after the other on the power circuit?
Other thoughts - any possibility you have a batch of bad interface cables. Try disconnecting/connecting *BOTH* ends.
Good luck - Keep us posted.
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I have always had problems with recessed fd bays.
I think that unless the drive is in exactly the right position in the bay then the floppy when pushed into the slot will not engage properly.
When fitting a new drive behind a recessed bay I have removed the original plastic face of the drive.
If the floppy drive will not work after all adjustments, I just take it out, refit the plastic facia and mount it in a non recessed bay, it then works fine.jonmich
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It looks as though we've found a solution to our problems! I took one of the floppy drives out and placed it into a bay so it would fit in a CDROM bay. We've had no problems at all with this drive since we moved it in the case. To test this theory, we also took 5 additional cases which were notorious for problem floppies and used only two screws to hold it in place; not screwed in tight, but enough to hold the drive in place. So far, these systems as well have not displayed any further problems. Perhaps a future solution to this problem might be encourage our students to purchase jump drives.....
Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and comments!!!!
A person can speak from experience, but experience speaks for itself...
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Is it possible that the fixing screws are fractionally too long?
Perhaps also the sheet metal used for the floppy drive fixing bracket is thinnish.
Thus when the screws are screwed tight, perhaps they touch something inside the floppy drive and short/ground it out or maybe distort something mechanical.
Good luck - Keep us posted.
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Jedi,
Glad you're getting out of the woods.
Mike,
Excellent point.
I'm one who cautioned against over-tightening screws. But I completely forgot about screw length.
Over-length screws will permanently wreck a hard drive. I always carry a few very short screws for HD mounting. They only have about 3 or 3 1/2 threads.
If the screws becoming loose over time with vibration is an issue, you can use 'star washers' [external tits] or 'shakeproof washers' [internal tits] which, unlike split ring lock washers, do not need to be tight to do their job.
OBW, if a jedi can't fix this; who can?
As Yoda told Luke, there is no try; there is only do.
M2
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 External Hard Drive
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Should I get a new monito...
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